Bulls dismember tame Cheetahs in last match
WHAT A TRY: Waisake Naholo of the Highlanders scores during his side's 25-15 win against the Chiefs in Dunedin, New Zealand yesterday, which left the Hurricanes top of the New Zealand conference, after they thrashed the Crusaders 35-10 IT was the Travis Ismaiel and Renaldo Bothma show in Bloemfontein as the Bulls’ pride did not allow them to sign off with a whimper.
The duo shared four tries as the Bulls methodically dismembered the Cheetahs 43-17 in a meaningless clash last night.
With the Sharks beating the Sunwolves on Friday evening, the Bulls’ die was cast. Their bonus-point win was not enough as the Sharks had a six-point advantage.
If the Bulls’ souls were destroyed by Friday’s result in Durban, they certainly did not show it. They put in an immensely physical performance that the Cheetahs battled to deal with.
The Cheetahs’ inability to handle the Bulls’ strike runners was displayed through the tries from Ismaiel and Bothma. Ismaiel’s 26th-minute try was a case of the Bulls straightening the line very well and leaving fullback Clayton Blommetjies exposed to the hard-running Ismaiel.
Three minutes later Bothma galloped for the line after collecting Burger Odendaal’s flat pass.
If the Cheetahs added accuracy to their great play, they would have had more than just Fred Zeilinga’s 21st-minute penalty.
Their overeagerness was summed up by Blommetjies’ 38th-minute touch finder that flew over the deadline instead of finding the 5m corner.
Blommetjies redeemed himself in the 54th minute when he latched onto Shaun Venter’s flat pass to crash over the line.
It was a case of the Cheetahs choosing structure over helter-skelter as the Bulls’ pillar defence weakened somewhat when Lappies Labuschagne was replaced by Arno Botha.
What should have been a Cheetahs try in the 59th minute when Rayno Benjamin could not handle Paul Schoeman with an overlap in the Bulls’ 22 turned into a try moments later.
Raymond Rhule was no match for Bothma at the breakdowns as the Namibian No 8 muscled the wing off the ball and sauntered over the line. It was the straw that broke the camel’s back as Ismaiel completed his brace seven minutes later.
Rudy Paige’s introduction also saw an increase in tempo that the tired Cheetahs were not able to keep up with.
It happened to be a brainless night for the fullbacks as SP Marais’s attempted sidestep was checked by Rhule, who quickly scrambled to charge down Francois Brummer’s kick. The beneficiary of that mess was Carl Wegner, who crashed over in the 75th minute.
Tian Meyer sealed the Cheetahs’ forgettable night when his attempted 22m clearance was swallowed by Jamba Ulengo, who cantered over the line.